
At One with the Mountains - An interview with Nick Gardner
Issue 6: Nick Gardner and his wife Janet were living an idyllic life on a croft…

A Munro of 1,054 metres, number 75 of the 282.
Photograph by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Na Gruagaichean stands in the Mamores, the range with Glen Nevis on one side and Kinlochleven on the other.
The village, at the head of Loch Leven, is a little over two miles away in a straight line.
Binnein Mor, the higher hill next door, is about a kilometre and a half to the north-east. Stob Coire a' Chairn and An Gearanach are about two kilometres to the north-west, and Am Bodach is a little further off to the west.
At number 75 of the 282, Na Gruagaichean sits well inside the top hundred Munros by height.
West wind to 7 mph, gusting 16
Dry, or nearly
Light from 7.55am to 6.14pm, ten hours
A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: West Highlands forecast, Na Gruagaichean, Lochaber avalanche forecast.
Choose the day you mean to climb.Near or far: the light you will have, and what the summit is likely to be doing.
Photograph by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Under snow and ice this is a different day, with short light and the risk of avalanche. It needs an ice axe, crampons, winter boots and the skill to use them.
The summit is optional. Turning back is the right decision whenever the cloud, the wind or the light say so.
How to call for help in the hills · Safety and skills for the hills · ThinkWINTER
Nobody has written from Na Gruagaichean yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.
Were you up? Three words is enough.A free account, a word for the weather and a line if you like.

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For the route itself, take the map and read these.

Stay: Across Loch Leven, about nine miles from Kinlochleven as the crow flies

Eat: In Glencoe, about five miles from Kinlochleven as the crow flies; food…

Café: In Fort William, about six miles from Steall Falls as the crow flies…

Eat: In Fort William, about six miles from Steall Falls as the crow flies
Next along: Binnein Mor, Stob Coire a' Chairn, An Gearanach, Am Bodach. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are the Highland Council's, the Kinlochleven Community Trust's, Jahama Highland Estates', Mountaineering Scotland's and Shiel Buses'; the forecasts are the Mountain Weather Information Service's, the Met Office's and the Scottish Avalanche Information Service's. Height and position from The Database of British and Irish Hills, v18.3, adapted, CC BY 4.0. This page is not a route description and does not replace a map.